Author's note: Many thanks for all the great reviews. Glad you like it so far. I do not mean to disappoint GSR romance fans but I can not write smut scenes ( but I do love reading them so thank you to the very talented authors that can). There is a scene missing between the end of Chapter 9 and the start of Chapter 10, a rather obvious one. Grissom and Sara's first time together. So I will leave each reader to fill in that blank with their own imagination. I'm sure every GSR fan has thought about it, even had fantasized several different scenarios for that first time, from torrid to sweet, playful to passionate. The next few chapters deal with the bumps along the way in any new relationship. Hope you enjoy!

Gil Grissom leaned back against his couch in front of the fireplace, a bemused smile played on his face as he poured more wine into their glasses. He looked up when he heard her return from the kitchen, she offered to put the leftovers from their dinner away. "I don't know why I fought against this for so long?"

Sara Sidle smiled and reached for his outstretched hand. She sat down beside him on the floor, all she was wearing was one of his long sleeve dress shirts. Taking a glass from him with a kiss, she sipped her wine slowly. "I don't know why either." Grissom slipped down beside her and put his arm around her shoulders as they settled in front of the couch. "It's going to be tricky working together everyday trying to keep our little secret from Ecklie."

"Why should this be a secret, Sara? Other people in the lab date all the time. Sara just looked at him. "I know, I know.....I'm your supervisor. Catherine will have to do your reviews from now on."

"I don't care about the reviews. Ecklie wants you gone, Gil. Since he became the director, it's like he has this personal vendetta against you. Everything he does is to harass you enough to quit."

"I am ashamed to say I'm guilty of harassing him.......and enjoying it too."

"The difference is you do it to force him to make decisions for the good of the lab. I know he's tried to get you fired and now he'll try anything to force you to leave."

"I do not want to talk about Conrad Ecklie! He can't fire me. He can only make a recommendation to the Sheriff, which he won't do unless he can find a replacement. In fact, I may be able to get Warrick back permanently on nights, we've been so busy lately."

"Please just be careful, I don't trust that slimy bastard. I know he hates me. We don't have to sneak around but I'd be more comfortable if he knows nothing about us at all."

"Whatever you want my love!"

He kissed her palm. When she gestured to her lips, he kissed them also, several times.

"Whatever I want?" Sara smiled and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"What did you have in mind? Kindly remember, I am old enough to be your father."

"What I am thinking about is not exactly daughterly. Come on, old man. "

Getting up she pulled him up and towards the bedroom, he allows himself to be tugged.

"Yes, dear!"

Much later, Sara woke slowly. She was relaxed and at peace for the first time in a very long time. She loved to sleep in his arms. Trying to stretch, she felt a weight pressed on and around her. Cradled between her breasts was the head of the man she had loved for nearly ten years. Her most cherished dream had come true but it was still a little hard to believe. Cautiously she moved to see his face. At her movement, he snuggled against her and fell back into sleep. Sara did not need to see his face, she had memorized every curve and line of it. Yet, somehow this was the face of Gil Grissom she had never seen before. There were no dark circles under his eyes, no tension in his face or body. Whatever he was dreaming of brought the trace of a smile to his lips.

A smile tugged at her own lips as she fought the impulse to kiss him awake and to run her hands through the short tight curls in his hair. She love the feel of his hair. Sara had watched his hair slowly change in the years since they first met in San Francisco. He had worn his hair much longer then, it had been a sun-bleached mass of curls. His hair had gotten darker and he wore it much shorter now. She also loved the other changes, as the touch of grey in his hair gradually advanced from just the temples to a full frame around his face. The face itself had not changed much in nearly ten years but his body was thicker, fuller. Sara smiled as she remembered that he had been so concerned that he was too heavy when they made love.

She had expected to take the lead in matters of sex but he had surprised her there also. Gil was a gentle, patient and generous lover. His touches and kisses never demanded but softly persuaded her to respond. Each response made Sara want him that much more. He responded to her needs almost as she felt them, as if reading her mind. Yet she knew what he wanted and needed too. Sara loved to hear him laugh but felt no pressure to please him. There was no fear, no disappointment and no regret after they made love. She once thought she knew Gil Grissom well but now he was even more of a mystery.

Much as she hated to admit it, he was a puzzle. Perhaps that was part of her attraction to him. He always had a sense of command yet maintained a distance. Grissom watched and analyzed everyone and everything with an aloof intelligence, some called arrogance. It was aggravating that he rarely showed surprise at people or events but she knew they often made him unhappy or annoyed. Her challenge had been to touch him, to breach the wall that seemed to surround him. His cryptic blue eyes guarded that wall, and Sara was still learning how to read his eyes. She knew beneath his calm exterior was a passionate man with a loving heart. Vulnerability always touched him whether it was the death of an infant, a child hurt or in trouble, a woman physically or mentally abused or any victim of prejudice. What brought out his anger was intelligence or power used to hurt others or destroy someone just for amusement or money.

She continued to watch him sleep as her thoughts returned to the events of the last three days. If ever there was a day of strange contrasts, Thursday was a day and night that would live in her mind and heart forever. The day had not started well. DNA evidence everyone hoped would catch and convict a serial rapist had only proved their one and only suspect in a string of brutal assaults and a murder, was innocent. Gil had been angry, not at her but at himself. He had admitted and apologized for his mistakes. He felt that the premature assumptions he made before all the evidence had been analyzed allowed the real suspect a chance to escape and perhaps kill again. He hated to make mistakes when the lives of others were at stake.

Sara had also been angry that day. She was not sure now if her anger had been at Grissom, because he had ordered her around. That was something that never failed to infuriate her but it was also something he rarely did. Maybe the anger was more for herself. Not only had her stupid but brief affair with Ian Flynn been exposed rather publicly. The marks he had left on her neck and arms announced to the lab staff that she had been drunk and slept with a man she did not know, who might have killed her. Even now her cheeks burned with that humiliation. Grissom did not judge her, he never did. The hurt and pain in his eyes when he saw the bruises had been far worse than any words he could ever say. Still he tried to help her career at the expense of his own, writing a commendation for both herself and Mike Dunlop. He had given them full credit for finding and catching the real rapist John Lewis, before he could kill again. He told her about that commendation just minutes before she nearly lost him forever.

Sara did not want to relive the explosion but it replayed over and over in her mind endlessly. She remembered the deafening sound, falling down and then turning to see the man she loved lying on the ground not moving. Her only thoughts were to reach him, to touch him, to know that she had not lost him. Sara tried not to think about what might have happened. Instead of the few flash burns he received on his face and leg that were already healing; he might have been badly burned, blinded, lost an arm or leg or even been killed. The memory of those frightening moments caused Sara to tighten her arms around him which woke Grissom up.

Gil Grissom had been dreaming of taking a vacation with Sara, sailing down the Atlantic coast in a small sloop built for two. It was one of the many things on the rapidly growing list of things he wanted to do before he died. He had mentally started the list a few months before when several horrific events reminded him rather forcefully of his own mortality. Perhaps those incidents and nearly losing Sara was what finally pushed him into her arms and her into his bed. He had spent the last three days and nights with Sara. They had been the happiest days of his life. He woke in response to Sara's arms tightening around him. Fully awake, he realized that something was very wrong. Grissom rolled over to gather Sara against him reaching for the covers. Her body was ice cold and tears rolled down her face from haunted eyes.

"Sara honey, what's wrong?"

"Hold me, please? I went to check your pulse but I couldn't make my hand move."

Grissom was unprepared for the raging emotions that poured from the woman in his arms. It was like trying to hold a hurricane. She would not or could not speak to tell him any more about what was wrong. With no other option he held her tightly as tears rained on his chest and sobs shook Sara, which left her gasping for breath. He tried to murmur words to quiet her fears, to let her know he was fine and that everything was all right. His words were lost in the flood of tears that he was powerless to stop. On the rare occasions in the past, when he had held Catherine to comfort her; she would shed some tears but then quickly regained control. The waves of sadness and fear he could feel from Sara frightened him almost as much as the feeling of her body cold and shaking against him. After what seemed like hours, her tears slowed. Sara's body relaxed against him and slowly warmed up. Her breathing returned to normal. Afraid to ask what had started the torrent, he continued to hold her in silence until she drifted into sleep.

Grissom was uncomfortable with intense emotions. In his job, he often saw the tragic result of emotions out of control. He tried to avoid or diffuse situations involving high emotions, his own or others, relying on his extensive education to think his way out of situations. He had a bad temper and learned early on that the healthy release of his emotions was often very unhealthy for those around him. His job required that he remain calm and objective. Grissom tried to show very little emotion. He knew that most people called him cold.

Perhaps that was why he loved Sara, she was his exact opposite. He had never met such a passionate person, though she often scared or confused him. In just a few short days, he had become the focus for most of that passion. She loved him so deeply; at times it was both humbling and overwhelming. Until Sara, sex for him had never been complicated. It was a pleasant way to have fun, to scratch an itch or relieve tension. Only once before, a very long time ago, had he ever been so emotionally invested with his partner. He had been very young, too young. He had lost her to his anger. Since then, Grissom had not really felt anything for anyone until Sara walked into his classroom. He fought so long and hard not to love her and now he had lost that battle. Like most battles, now that it was over, he was not sure why he fought at all. She had always been special to him. Now Sara was part of him. He needed her in his life. It had taken him ten years to realize she was his life. It was right for him but what about Sara? Did he have the right to ask her to stay with him?

In her sleep, Sara snuggled against him. The feel of her skin, now very warm, ignited his need. Making love with Sara was becoming addictive. One look, a smile or a touch and he wanted her again. That was hardly surprising, she was so beautiful. Grissom was stunned to discover that Sara wanted him too.....and how much she wanted him. Why she wanted him was a puzzle he could not solve. Sara had rejected both Nick and Mike to be with him. Why would she choose him? Confused but very happy, Grissom kissed Sara's forehead gently. He loved to look at her, so he allowed Sara to sleep in peace, unwilling to wake her for his own selfish needs. He was soon lost in his memories of the last three days.

Suddenly, the words Sara said just before the storm of tears erupted made sense. In an explosion on Thursday night, he had the wind knocked out of him. She was kneeling at his side when he came to. Her eyes tonight had that same haunted look in them as just after the explosion. That look had not gone away until she kissed him. The memory of that kiss, their first kiss, still sent shock waves through him. The jolt had jumpstarted his heart. Sara's kiss had opened the tomb of emotions and needs Grissom thought were long dead. Her love had resurrected dreams he'd buried long ago for a home and family. Could he be or give her what she needed? He wasn't even sure what that was. Was it too late for him? For them? Something Catherine once asked him sprang into his mind. "Have you ever asked Sara what she wants? No, I'll bet you haven't!" It couldn't possibly be that simple? Could it? What if Sara said no? Maybe rather than risk outright rejection, he would ease Sara into the idea of a life together with him. He would start by asking her to move in with him, but how? Lost in his thoughts he did not notice that Sara eyes had opened.

"Why are you looking so serious?" Sara kissed him good morning.

"I was worried about you. You scared the hell out of me, Sara. Can you tell me about it now?"

"I'm sorry I worried you. It was just a very bad dream." She caressed his face.

"I know. I had that same bad dream when I nearly lost you last April. Are you OK now?"

"Absolutely, just hungry but you never have any food in your house." She started to nibble on his neck and ears.

"Sorry, I am not on the menu. We can order in again or go out for breakfast, well brunch. There are several places just around the corner."

"Or we can we can go to the grocery store, get some food and make breakfast. There is a small room off your living room called a kitchen. It's where you put food and make meals to be eaten without the general public in attendance."

"Oh, so that's what that room is for? I've always wondered. Two problems with your idea Sara; I own next to nothing to cook with and I don't really know how to cook, except the basics."

"Come on, get dressed. We can solve one problem with a quick trip to Wal-Mart, getting some food and a few other necessities. Then I can show you the secrets of quick meals that taste great. I worked by way through college as a waitress and part time cook. I think a man with as many degrees as you have should be able to grasp the basics pretty quickly."

He reached up and pulled Sara back into bed, kissing her several times. "How about if I just keep you here all the time……Sara, move in here with me, please?"

Grissom was stunned. He hadn't planned to say anything and certainly not to have the most important question in his life just pop out that way. His heart pounded waiting for an answer.

She laughed. "So you want me to be you're live in cook, housekeeper and sex-slave?"

"Sara! That's not what I meant."

"Oh Gil, some times you really are such an old man. I was teasing you. You looked so serious......Oh my god! You were serious."

"I didn't mean to just blurt it out like that, but yes I am."

Why?"

"Why? I think that's rather obvious. I love you Sara and I want to be with you all the time. I think we both can agree, I've wasted too much time already."

"I love you Gil and I'm pretty sure you love me but you've lived all alone for a very long time. I will stay with you whenever you want me to but I think you might want to take some time to get used to sharing your life and home with me before I just pack up my things and move in. As much as I want to, I think we both need to be sure before jumping into anything more permanent. Don't look so sad! I didn't say no. Let's just say I just want some time to think about it. May I remind you, Dr. Grissom, you kept me waiting almost ten years! I think I'd like to torture you for a little while. Besides, we don't have to settle anything today except your kitchen." She kissed him until he smiled. "OK, now let's go. I need to check what you actually have in your kitchen before we leave." She wandered to his small kitchen area. "You don't even own a toaster? Didn't your mother ever teach you to make toast or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?"

Watching her wander around his kitchen in her bra and panties, opening draws and cabinets was a picture his mind would recall for years to come. He exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and reluctantly finished dressing.

"My mother was not very domestic, like her son. She knew there was a kitchen in the house but I don't think she really knew what it was there for. After my dad died, I lived at school until I left for college. Sara, can we please ease into this cooking thing? I'm hungry now. I'll buy brunch and then we can buy what's needed to try cooking dinner. Is it a deal?"

"Deal! See you're getting practice already at the art of compromise." She handed him a long list for shopping. "Are you ready to go?"

"I am but I think you've overlooked one minor thing, like getting dressed. I think you look…um stunning in that outfit but it wouldn't look good if you got arrested in just that."

"I was putting it off as long as possible. My clothes still smell of gunpowder from Thursday night." Sara shuddered involuntarily. "Maybe I can find something else to wear while we are out or we can stop by my place to get a few things that I can leave here."

Grissom nodded and reached to retrieve Sara's shirt from the couch. "I think that can be arranged."